Category: Fruit Farming

The custard apple, known locally as matomoko or sugar apple, is the overlooked gem of Kenyan fruit farming. For decades, these scaly green fruits with their sweet, creamy flesh remained in the shadows, overshadowed by mangoes, bananas, and oranges. But that is changing rapidly. With urban demand growing, export markets opening, and a single tree …

Custard Apple (Matomoko) Farming in Kenya: A Complete Commercial GuideRead More

The cocoa tree, once taught in Kenyan schools as a crop grown only in West Africa, is now taking root in Kenyan soil. At the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Mtwapa branch, seedling sales have increased by 158 percent over three years. More than 1,600 seedlings were sold between July 2023 and June …

Cocoa Farming in Kenya: A Commercial Guide to Production and Market OpportunitiesRead More

The peach tree loaded with ripe fruit is still an uncommon sight in most Kenyan orchards. While mangoes and avocados dominate the fruit landscape, peaches remain largely confined to a few highland farms and roadside vendors in Nyeri or Meru . This scarcity is precisely what creates commercial opportunity. With grafted trees producing fruit in as …

Peach Farming in Kenya: A Commercial Guide to Low-Chill Varieties and Market PotentialRead More

For decades, jackfruit was the overlooked giant in Kenyan orchards, a tree planted for shade or left to grow wild along hedges. Its massive fruits sold by the roadsides in Kisii and Kakamega, cut into portions wrapped in newspaper . That era is ending. Today, a single mature jackfruit tree can generate KSh 250,000 annually …

Jackfruit: The Giant Fruit with Growing Market DemandRead More

A fruit tree that produces clusters of purple berries directly on its trunk and branches rather than at the tips, this is jabuticaba, one of the most unusual fruit trees in the world . Native to Brazil, where it is highly prized for fresh eating, juices, wines, and jams, this exotic species is gradually gaining …

Jabuticaba Farming in Kenya: The Tree That Fruits on Its TrunkRead More

The story of dragon fruit in Kenya has changed dramatically in just a few years. What began as a novelty fruit sold at KSh 2,300 per kilogram in supermarkets, imported from Vietnam, has become a growing domestic industry with thousands of farmers entering production . Today, Naivas supermarket lists fresh dragon fruit at about KSh 759 …

Dragon Fruit Farming in Kenya: A Practical Guide to Production and Market RealitiesRead More

A fruit that tastes like a hard-boiled egg yolk blended with sweet pumpkin, looks like a golden mango, and sells for premium prices in Nairobi supermarkets, this is canistel. Also known as egg fruit or yellow sapote, this tropical fruit may be unfamiliar to most Kenyans today, but that unfamiliarity is precisely what creates opportunity. …

Canistel Farming in Kenya: The Golden Egg Fruit with Untapped Market PotentialRead More

Walk into any high-end supermarket in Nairobi or Mombasa, and you will notice small, vibrant orange fruits sitting on the shelves, often individually wrapped or packed in elegant trays . That fruit is the persimmon, known globally as the “fruit of the gods” for its sweet, honey-like flavour and nutritional density. In Carrefour or Zucchini Greengrocers, …

Persimmon Farming in Kenya: The Golden Fruit with Untapped Commercial PotentialRead More

The farmer who grows cabbages accepts market prices determined by whoever floods the market that week. The farmer who grows blueberries tells the buyer the price. This is not exaggeration but arithmetic. Retailing at up to KSh 2,600 per kilogram locally, with farm-gate prices consistently above KSh 2,000 for quality produce, blueberries occupy a unique …

Blueberries: Inside the Superfruit OpportunityRead More

The tree tomato, known internationally as tamarillo (Solanum betaceum), is quietly proving itself as one of the most commercially intelligent fruit crops for Kenyan highland farmers. Unlike avocado or mango, which take years to mature and produce one annual crop, the tree tomato fruits weekly once established, providing a steady, predictable income stream rather than …

Tamarillo (Tree Tomato) Farming in Kenya: A Practical Guide to Grafted Seedlings, Orchard Establishment, and Profit ProjectionsRead More